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Half-Blood
Episode 4, Season 7 of War. I think this is the longest I've ever gone between episodes, holy crap. So if this one is a lil rough, please stick with me. Love you guys, and thanks for sticking it out. <3 Half-Blood Waterstar rears up on her hind legs, swiping her paws at Firestar's head. While the gray tom is dizzy, she spins and sweeps his legs out from under him. The two roll over and over, a hissing mass of fur. "Careful!" Airstar whispers from where she perches on a rock, blue eyes on the other two. "Would you be quiet?" Waterstar growls. Suddenly, Firestar lets out a squeal and the fighting cats break apart. "Her claw caught my fur!" the gray tom wails. Sighing, I heave myself to my paws. Wrenkit looks at me with large amber eyes, "It was an accident, honest!" a flicker of her spark comes back as she sticks her tongue out at Breezekit. "But he should've known not to mess with the might of WaterClan!" "You made me be Firestar!" Breezekit protests, still wailing. "Momma, make her say she's sorry!" Before I say anything, Wrenkit gives a martyred sigh. "I'm sorry, okay?" She flounces over to where Breezekit is curled on the ground and nudges him back up to his paws. Morningkit darts over, "Do you need me to go to the medicine den?" she asks. From her frantic expression, I can tell she must have been asking the question over and over. But in dealing with her over-exuberant siblings, I didn't hear her. I lick her on the top of the head, "It's okay." I turn back to Breezekit and Wrenkit. "Play nicely, okay? And let your sister be Waterstar once or twice, okay?" "She doesn't want to be Waterstar," Breezekit says dismissively. But Wrenkit nods and I know it'll get done. "Brookfall?" I look up and purr at the sight of the handsome brown tabby standing a fox-length away. Polite, to the point of it being painful. "Hey, Sedgewhisker. What's up?" "Sedgewhisker!" Wrenkit yowls. She and the others scamper towards the tom, who does a fine job of pretending to be terrified of the little kits pretending to be warriors. They clamor for his attention, but I finally manage to shoo them off. It's been half a moon since Sedgewhisker joined up, and while we haven't been in any life or death situations yet, he already feels a little like family. Shadowsong still refuses to be in the same area as him, and Oakclaw still acts a little awkward, but it's easier. Although, to be fair, Adderscar and Grayleaf are away so it's literally just Shadowsong, Oakclaw, Gorsefur, and me. "What's up?" I ask again, making sure to keep an eye on the kits. Morningkit has gotten in on the fun, somehow managing to make pummeling Breezekit with her sister seem delicate. Sedgewhisker shrugs a shoulder. "Gorsefur said he had some business and Oakclaw's hunting so I figured I'd see if you needed any help with the kits." He doesn't mention Shadowsong. Another reason he's so freaking likable. Most toms would either see Shadowsong's behavior as a reason to hate her or a signal that she's some kind of crazy unattainable she-cat who must be hit on right away. Sedgewhisker just takes the hint and stays away. Even Oakclaw couldn't manage that, although we all know how that ended up. "What's Gorsefur doing?" I suddenly remember to ask. Sedgewhisker shrugs. I feel a twinge of worry, and then one of...guilt? Frustration? Because of me and the kits we haven't done anything dangerous in a moon. Gorsefur will be fine. "Can Sedgewhisker be Earthstar?" Wrenkit begs. "That's the only other leader we need." Sedgewhisker catches my eye and purrs. "Tell you what," he meows. "I think Morningkit should be Earthstar. I'll be Airstar." Morningkit looks ecstatic, and Wrenkit nods. I settle back down and watch in amusement as my kits and squad-mate transform themselves into the warring four leaders. Gorsefur wished he was anywhere else, but enough was enough. This was a problem that was threatening to destroy his squad and everything they had built together. It had gone on for a moon, and he kept telling himself that it was going to end today. Of course, it was one thing to tell himself that and another to try and convince himself of it when looking at Shadowsong. "This has to stop," he meowed. He'd been a commander for moons now, and he was grateful for it. It made situations like these a little easier to deal with. "Gorsefur, I'm trying," Shadowsong started. The raw pain in her voice was almost enough to make him back off. Again, he put himself in her place. What if he had watched Oakclaw be slaughtered and then been helpless as Shadowsong threw herself off a cliff? Shadowsong had watched Stormflight die and her sister, Snowflight throw herself into an abyss. Those scars didn't really heal. But he had to keep going. "You're not trying," he corrected. "You're sulking and avoiding everyone and it needs to end. In a moon or less we'll be back out on the front and we need to be a team by then. We're not a team now." Shadowsong just glared at him and Gorsefur knew that she too was remembering the disaster that was the day he'd called a training session. The squad had met in one of the mossy hollows near the camp. Brookfall brought the kits and long story short, Oakclaw ended up in the river, Wrenkit made it half-way to the Silver Forest, and Sedgewhisker had been admitted to the medicine den for a nasty gash on his flank. Gorsefur hadn't called a second session. This part was going to be the hardest. Gorsefur sat by Shadowsong and she unconsciously pressed against him for comfort. She was one of his best friends. One of his oldest friends too. They'd been through things none of the others had and it connected them. She's like my sister and I care about her. That's why I'm doing this. I'm not trying to hurt her any more than she already is. "Shadowsong, we all lost them too," Gorsefur said quietly. "Oakclaw was like a brother to Stormflight. Brookfall loved Snowflight. They were both in my squad; I sent Stormflight after you guys and I was the one who kept Snowflight a secret. Grayleaf ran off with Adderscar because he couldn't deal with it anymore." "Don't talk to me about Grayleaf," Shadowsong growled. Gorsefur was struck by the disturbing thought that the she-cat sitting next to him was also half FireClan. She shared the blood of two notorious assassins and she had joined them for a time. She was dangerous and he had seen her kill before. It was as though a bolt of lightning had struck him and left him feeling disorientated. The thought was gone the moment it came and Gorsefur pressed on. "Shadowsong, you're always talking about how strong you are. You're one of the strongest cats I know. But everyone else has pulled themselves back together, and you need to too." He could hear the slew of excuses in his head. None of the others saw it happen, Shadowsong lost a sister and a friend, she's always taken things a little harder, she's always been a little less stable... But instead she showed him something he'd never thought he'd see again: a spark of the old Shadowsong. "I am the strongest cat you know," she hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Don't you ever doubt that. You think I would still be here if I didn't? You think any of the others could have survived when FireClan had us for a half-moon and every day was another battle? You think any of the others could have dealt with finding out that they were half FireClan?" her voice wavered there. A beat of silence. Shadowsong panted, like she'd run a lap around Main. Her eyes weren't glassy, just furious. That her strength had been questioned. "So you'll try to get along with Sedgewhisker?" Gorsefur asked weakly. "Fine," Shadowsong spat. She stalked away from him, towards Main. Gorsefur stood alone, feeling rather stunned. After half a moon of babying and talking and attempted coercion and force, it turned out there was still only one way to get to Shadowsong: pride. "You got me!" Sedgewhisker lay on the ground, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. The kits giggled around him and he fought back a purr. They had transitioned from playing as the four leaders to pretending Sedgewhisker was Firestar and the kits were three brave WaterClan warriors. Brookfall had gone off to hunt for their dinner, leaving Sedgewhisker in charge. He liked kits, and he was good with them, so it was an enjoyable afternoon for him. Even sorting out squabbles between the young cats wasn't so bad. They were tired now, but refusing to sleep, so he watched languidly, washing his paws, as they argued over what their warrior names would be. "As long as I'm not something like Wrenflower," Wrenkit said, wrinkling her nose. "That would be awful." "I dunno what I want my name to be," Breezekit said, apparently deep in thought. Knowing the kit, he would change his mind about his name until he was actually given his final name. Breezekit had a habit of over-thinking things. "I want to be Morningsnow," Morningkit said dreamily. "It's so pretty, but not too girly, right?" she looked anxiously at Wrenkit for approval. "That's an unusual name, Morningkit," Sedgewhisker meowed. Most cats used 'snow' in the first part of their name, not the last. "How'd you come up with it." "Momma had a friend named Snowbright," Morningkit said knowledgeably. "It's a pretty name." "It was Snow''flight'' mouse-brain," Breezekit corrected. Sedgewhisker paused in licking his paw, thinking. That name was familiar. But from where? "Besides," Wrenkit said, "She's dead. That would be gross, naming yourself after a dead cat." "Where did your mother know Snowflight from?" Sedgewhisker asked absentmindedly as he thought about the name. Breezekit shrugged. "We heard her and Oakclaw talking about her one night. We weren't supposed to hear." "I think Shadowsong introduced them," Wrenkit piped up. "Momma said something about how Snowflight dying hurt Shadowsong more than anyone else." "Because they were sisters," Morningkit cut in. Her brother and sister looked and her in surprise and Morningkit flattened her ears in embarrassment. "I spy sometimes too," she muttered. "I just hear more because I don't whisper like you guys do." Sedgewhisker's head was spinning. He remembered the name Snowflight now, she was one of those tall tales they talked about back where he came from. She and her sister (Lionflight? Leopardwing?) were famous FireClan soldiers. Infamous might have been a better word for it though. Honestly, Sedgewhisker wouldn't have believed the stories. Growing up the way he did, he learned the only things you could really depend on were your own senses. But in one squad he'd been on, they'd got to talking. One tom talked about the battle that wiped out his entire squad- a battle that was against two she-cats. Snowflight and her sister. Before he had much time to process the thought, he dimly heard his name being called. Looking up, he saw Shadowsong (had he summoned her with his mind?) glaring down at him. The kits bundled around her paws, squeaking in joy. Sedgewhisker was caught up for a moment in her arrogant pose, her faint smirk, her sharp amber eyes. They could have misremembered Snowflight's name. It could be a coincidence. This is stupid. There's no way. "Sedgewhisker? Why are you looking at me like that?" But all the pieces fit. Every hesitation around him, the way she hated him so desperately, the tripping over words that everyone seemed to have around him. "Brookfall's on her way," Shadowsong informed him. "She'll be here in a minute." "Thanks...?" Sedgewhisker meowed, trying to make it sound like he wasn't being sarcastic. "Want to go on a walk?" Shadowsong suddenly asked. The kits were here...but Brookfall was coming. Shadowsong hated him...but here she was. Shadowsong was FireClan. Shadowsong was a FireClan. "Is that a yes or a no...?" Shadowsong asked, resorting to sarcasm as she so often did. "No," Sedgewhisker meowed. "I mean, yes, I mean...I'm coming." Shadowsong was FireClan. By the time I get home, I fully expect Sedgewhisker to be passed out, the kits bouncing on his body. Sure he's good with kits, and I definitely needed a walk by myself, but I left him alone for ages. Morningkit is grooming a complaining Wrenkit's fur as Breezekit struggles with his own. I feel a wave of affection for them; they have their flaws (StarClan knows) but they're still the kind of kits who manage to groom themselves before bed without me reminding them. And then I realize Sedgewhisker isn't there. I hurry over and drop the prey I caught on my walk. "Where's Sedgewhisker?!" "He and Shadowsong went for a walk," Wrenkit says, sounding thoroughly bored. "I bet they're going to visit Snowflight's grave," Morningkit sighs. A cold feeling spreads throughout me. "What?" "Well," Morningkit meows. "We were telling Sedgewhisker about Snowflight and then Shadowsong showed up. I bet they'll be best friends and probably mates after this and she'll stop being so mean to him because he understands about why she's so sad now." "Mouse-brain!" Wrenkit interrupts. "Shadowsong and Oakclaw are mates. Don't you pay attention?" "Sedgewhisker knows about Snowflight?" I whisper, still numb. Morningkit starts to look frightened, but I can't bring myself to think about that yet. Best case scenario, Sedgewhisker just knows that we knew a cat named Snowflight who died and Shadowsong was close to her. But even with that, he could puzzle it out. Snowflight was a legend, and he's a smart tom. Besides, Shadowsong doesn't downplay the aspects of her personality some might consider a pointed to her FireClan heritage. He knows. A part of me wonders why it's such a big deal. This is a good thing! No more secrets and no more awkward conversations. Sedgewhisker is a member of the squad, and he deserves to know. But at the same time... it's only been half a moon. We don't know all that much about Sedgewhisker. We knew Moonclaw for a moon and she still tried to kill Shadowsong, and almost succeeded. Besides, if what the kits are saying is true, Shadowsong arrived a minute or so after Sedgewhisker found out. He's probably still in shock, and that might make him do something stupid. I trust Sedgewhisker to watch my kits, but not with this secret? Of course, they're WaterClan kits. And who knows if Sedgewhisker's lost someone to FireClan? Everyone has. "Momma?" "Get in the den," I whisper fiercely. Then, raising my voice a little. "This is not your fault, but I need you to be my brave warriors and stay inside the den, alright?" They all nod, even Wrenkit. Before they scramble into the den, they all dart forward and nuzzle me. As soon as I see them safely inside, I turn and sprint towards where Oakclaw said he'd be hunting. We have to find Sedgewhisker and Shadowsong. Just in case. "I don't really care where we go," Shadowsong meowed as they headed away from the kits. "Do you have a preference?" She's FireClan. "Yeah," Sedgewhisker managed to say. "I know a place." Shadowsong nodded, not really paying attention to him. The sinking sun made her eyes blaze, orange and gold and even sparks of red. Fire. Shadowsong followed him into the darkness. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics